The 20 percent of solution providers in North America that meet the minimum strategic service provider criteria boast more than $1 million in annual revenue and nearly double the percentage of cloud and managed services sales than those that have not moved to the new business model.

Microsoft is a distant No. 2 player after Amazon Web Services in the public cloud, but a Microsoft executive said that could change as the software giant leverages its deep experience selling to enterprises.

Rollen Roberson, vice president of consulting at Sequoia, which Presidio acquired in December, spoke with CRN at XChange about creating 'cloud champions' and the importance of a services-led selling approach.

Partners clinging to upfront payment models and a lack of understanding of the difference between true cloud and 'as-a-service' have left Aecom CIO Tom Peck lukewarm about cloud, he told XChange attendees.